Inside a Brooklyn ballroom, investors smoothed their suits and opened their iPads, preparing for a day of sizing up hungry entrepreneurs and impassioned lobbyists.
One after another, startup founders took to the stage, making their cases for a round of venture capital. There was a building materials manufacturer, a catering company and, as one would expect, the inventor of a vaporizer.
It was high time to monetize pot.
Here at the Investor Pitch Forum last week, hosted by the cannabis industry investment and research firm The Arcview Group, some 200 investors Arcview described as “high net worth” met with dozens of companies looking to cash in on the promising new market of legal recreational marijuana.
Cultivating Spirits, a caterer that pairs organic dishes with fine wines and just the right weed, got the attention of more than a dozen investors.